It has heretofore been the practice to manufacture tinted transparent or translucent sun visors for automotive vehicles by casting or extruding a sheet of properly tinted acrylic resin and forming from the sheet a visor of selected configuration. The material of the visor has been of uniform thickness. The thickness has rarely exceeded an eigth of an inch so that the edge of the visor was often relatively sharp and dangerous if it were struck by the head of a driver thrown forward during an accident.
It is known in the art that a padded edge may be made by covering the sharp edges of the visor with a strip of rubber or other resilient material. However, this construction has been objected to because it results in a line of opaque material extending across the driver's field of vision usually in the area where visibility is most important.
The present invention discloses a molded sun visor having an enlarged transparent bead extending along the entire periphery of the sun visor. The material of the sun visor is homogeneous throughout and the exposed edges are blunted and, therefore, safer in case of an accident.
One prior art practice was to reinforce the resinous sheet of tinted transparent material through the use of metal frames. This construction also results in lines of opaque material extending across the driver's field of vision, thereby increasing the hazards presented by blind-spots in the oncoming traffic pattern.
The present invention discloses a transparent sun visor reinforced along a single edge by a reinforcing rod encapsulated integrally within the edge. The reinforcing rod extends across the edge of the sun visor found to be closest in proximity to the roof of the vehicle in which the sun visor is mounted. As a result, the sun visor discloses the optimum in transparency while providing a sturdy panel with the exposed edges being blunted so as to reduce the hazards presented to the driver in case of an accident.